In commercial, military, and other settings, items are often transported in various types of containers. For example, a retail store may order items from a wholesaler, who may ship the items to the retail store by way of one or more warehouses, and/or crossing one or more international borders. In such contexts, various authorized parties may desire to access the items within the container. For example, during transport, the container may need to be opened and inspected by a border or customs agents, and the items may need to be repackaged, in the same or different container(s).
In these and many other settings, however, various unauthorized parties also may wish to gain access to the items within the containers. Consequently, it may be important to ensure that the items within the container are not disturbed, damaged, replaced, counterfeited, or otherwise used inappropriately by such unauthorized parties.
In this regard, it will be appreciated that examples of unauthorized access to items within such containers, and motivations for such unauthorized access, are numerous, and may vary depending on a particular setting or circumstance. For example, any of a thief, a competitor, or a terrorist may wish to gain such unauthorized access. Meanwhile, recipients of such items, such as customers, purchasers, or other users, may wish to deter or prevent such access, or, failing that, may wish at least to have knowledge that such unauthorized access has occurred. If such knowledge can be provided, then the recipient may choose to reject, inspect, or replace the item(s), or may take other appropriate, corrective action.